"It can be almost like a cancer," said Adams, describing his hometown. "And I say that because the negativity in that place can be like a snowball rolling downhill."

Paterson is 12 miles up the Garden State Parkway from this year's Super Bowl and a world away. I asked Adams: Think motorists will notice a grown man in a Broncos helmet as he strolls down the highway?

"After I get to the IHOP on Route 3, I'll start hitchhiking," said Adams, laughing. "But they'd probably think I'm just some crazy person."

There are 101 sweet success stories at the Super Bowl. Maybe we can lend an ear to the story of Adams.

Adams is among the Jersey Boys returning home to wear orange at Super Bowl XLVIII. Defensive end Robert Ayers was born in Jersey City, not far from the team's championship-game headquarters. Oddsmakers have made it 4-to-1 that Knowshon Moreno will cry as "The Star-Spangled Banner" is played at Metlife Stadium, less than an hour from the field where he carried the rock for Middletown High School.

The city of Paterson, according to native son and New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz, is a place where too many friends got a casket instead of a high school diploma. Adams never knew his father. His mother died of ovarian cancer during Adams' rookie year with the San Francisco 49ers. So who gets the credit for Adams making it to the Super Bowl?

Adams made the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Delaware. Ten seasons later, he endured a demotion from the starting lineup in Denver, only to be one of the next men up for the Broncos when Rahim Moore got hurt. Adams' interception turned a close game against Houston into a rout.